Shikhin, Talmudic village home to many potters, found near Tzipori

Findings include ancient synagogue, remnants of pottery production, could be instrumental in the study of the origins of Christianity.

Archeologists at the Shikhin village in the Galilee 370.
(photo credit:Courtesy Shikhin Expedition)

Archeologists say they have found remains of the ancient Jewish village of
Shikhin, located in the central Galilee, which could be instrumental in the
study of Jewish life in the region and the origins of Christianity.

Dr.
Mordechai Aviam of Kinneret College’s Institute for Galilean Archeology and
co-director of the Shikhin expedition, said on Sunday the findings so far
include evidence of an ancient synagogue and remnants of pottery
production.

The expedition is a joint project led by Aviam, Samford
University Religion Professor James Riley Strange and Kentucky Christian
University Biblical Studies Professor David Fiensy.

Aviam said the
project, which has included two years of excavations thus far, would help to
answer crucial historical questions surrounding the identity of the
Galileans.

“Who were the Galileans?” he asked. “Where they remnants from
the First Temple period? Were they people who came from Judea? Were they people
who converted [to Judaism]?” Aviam noted that the village is mentioned along
with neighboring city Sepphoris (modern Tzipori) by first-century historian
Flavius Josephus, and in the Talmud as a village home to many
potters.

“Shikhin is one of the two earliest names that we have in the
Second Temple period,” he said. “The Galilee is an Israelite kingdom that was
destroyed by the Assyrians in the eighth century BC. Since then, and until the
dynasty of the Hasmoneans [in the second century BCE], we have almost no
historical information about the Galilee.”

Pottery production is an
important aspect of archeological research, and Aviam said this was especially
true at Shikhin. He noted that seven molds of oil lamps have been discovered
during the excavation, a high number that rivals large excavated cities such as
Caesarea.

“According to what I know today, [it is] the largest amount of
molds ever found in a village,” Aviam said. “The fact that we have seven molds
already tells us very clearly that the production of oil lamps was very
important to the potters in Shikhin.”

The archeologists plan to continue
excavations in the village, hoping “to find evidence of the Jewish settlement in
the Galilee until the place was abandoned in the fourth century.”

“Our
future excavation has to do with studying the cultural heritage of the village
Shikhin,” he said. “What’s very important here is the proximity between this
little village and the capital of Galilee in Sepphoris, so studying the material
culture of the village will tell us a lot about the relationship and the
sociological connection between villagers and people in the big city.”